Tadej Pogačar won the 2026 Tour of Flanders with another searing solo ride, dropping Mathieu van der Poel on the final ascent of the Oude Kwaremont before holding his advantage all the way to Oudenaarde. The world champion crossed the line alone after 278.6 kilometres of racing, with Van der Poel finishing second and Remco Evenepoel producing a remarkable ride for third on his Tour of Flanders debut.
Wout van Aert came home fourth after an aggressive afternoon, while Mads Pedersen completed the top five. It meant the five riders most people had built the race around before the start ended up occupying the first five places, but the way the race arrived there was anything but straightforward.
A frantic opening finally gives way to the break
The start in Antwerp brought exactly the kind of tension expected from a stacked Tour of Flanders field. For more than half an hour, attack after attack was shut down by a peloton dealing with a strong headwind, wave after wave of moves being neutralised before anything could settle.
Eventually, a 13-rider break did go clear. Silvan Dillier was the eye-catching name there, even if he immediately stopped contributing, while Frederik Frison, Connor Swift, Luke Lamperti, Luca Van Boven, Kamil Gradek, Dries De Pooter, Julius van den Berg, Jambaljamts Sainbayar, Edoardo Zamperini, Hartthijs de Vries, Victor Vercouillie and Eric Fagundez made up the rest of the group.
Behind them, UAE Team Emirates-XRG kept things under control through Mikkel Bjerg and Nils Politt, but the race was complicated further when the peloton was split by a level crossing. The race was neutralised, the break gained extra time, and the conditions then shifted again as rain arrived and left the roads greasy heading towards the cobbles.
Photo Credit: GettyUAE set the tone before the race detonates
For a long stretch, UAE Team Emirates-XRG controlled the peloton with real authority. Bjerg in particular spent hour after hour on the front, keeping the gap manageable and making sure Pogačar reached the first major sectors surrounded by team-mates.
That steady control started to turn into something more aggressive once the race hit the key sequence of climbs and cobbles. The first passage of the Oude Kwaremont and then the Eikenberg sharpened the field, but the real change came around the Molenberg and the following roads, where Florian Vermeersch ripped the group apart and a select favourites group formed much earlier than usual.
That move contained the race’s biggest names. Pogačar, Van der Poel, Evenepoel, Van Aert and Pedersen were all there, joined by riders such as Mohorič, Sheffield, Watson, Laporte, Stuyven, Trentin and others. By that point the race already had the shape of a finale, even with around 100km still to ride.
The major contenders force the issue
Once that group formed, there was no easing off. The remains of the original break were reeled in, the bunch behind was left adrift, and the race became one of elite selection rather than broad survival.
Even before the decisive point, there were signs that each of the favourites was playing a different game. Pogačar looked eager to race on instinct and pressure the others at every opportunity. Van der Poel stayed calmer and smoother, measuring his efforts. Evenepoel, on debut, looked stronger than many expected on the climbs but especially dangerous on the flatter sections between them. Van Aert was forced into repeated efforts just to stay in the right place, while Pedersen fought doggedly to limit his losses after being put under pressure on terrain that did not fully suit him.
By the time the race reached the second Oude Kwaremont and first Paterberg sequence, the front of the race had been boiled down to five: Pogačar, Van der Poel, Evenepoel, Van Aert and Pedersen. That alone felt like the race fans had been promised all week.
The final Oude Kwaremont decides everything
The decisive moment came on the final ascent of the Oude Kwaremont.
Pogačar attacked again, this time with enough force to finally create the separation he had been chasing. Van der Poel initially looked to be slipping away, then clawed back a little ground, but he could never fully close the gap. Evenepoel, after a huge effort to stay in contention for much of the finale, began to lose contact for good, while Van Aert and Pedersen were already behind.
It was not the completely dominant, one-blow demolition Pogačar sometimes produces. In fact, there were moments on the climb when he looked as if he was suffering badly, shoulders rocking, face contorted, the effort obvious. That was part of what made it so compelling. Van der Poel was close enough to keep the pressure on, but not close enough to come back.
Over the top, the gap was small. Onto the Paterberg, Pogačar stretched it again. Once he exited that final cobbled climb with a clearer margin, the race was effectively over.
A solo run to Oudenaarde
From there, Pogačar still had to finish the job. Van der Poel briefly gave the impression he might bring the gap back on the long straight run-in, but the elastic snapped once more. The Slovenian steadied himself, found his rhythm again, and pushed the advantage out to around 40 seconds inside the final 5km.
Evenepoel, meanwhile, kept riding strongly enough to secure third place on debut, a result that underlined just how well he handled a race many thought might expose him much earlier. Van Aert pressed on to fourth, earning a huge reception as he crossed the line, with Pedersen taking fifth after a gritty ride through a demanding final 100km.
Behind them, Jasper Stuyven led in the next group ahead of Florian Vermeersch, Matej Mohorič, Christophe Laporte and Gianni Vermeersch.
A third Tour of Flanders title for Pogačar
This victory gave Pogačar a third Tour of Flanders win and his 12th Monument. It also continued a striking start to his 2026 season, with victories already in Strade Bianche, Milan-San Remo and now the Tour of Flanders.
That is a frightening level of consistency even by his standards. Yet what stood out most in Oudenaarde was not just that he won, but how hard Van der Poel made him work for it, how impressive Evenepoel looked in third, and how brutally selective this edition became once the biggest names finally committed.
For long stretches, the race felt as if it was waiting for its true shape to appear. Once it did, it delivered exactly the kind of heavyweight showdown the start list had promised.
Tour of Flanders Men 2026 Result
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